Regulator for electric lights



(No Model.)

(1. E. BALLV REGULATOR. FOR ELECTRIG LIGHTS. No. 249,872. PatentedN0v..22,1881.

IVJTNESSES: [NVENTOR %4AJw d 4/54/0664 6 N. PETERS. Piww-Lmw m lmr.Wnshmglmv, DC.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. BALL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

REGULATOR FOR ELECTRIC LIGHTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 249,872, dated November22, 1881, Application filed February 17, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. BALL, a

citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Philadelphia,,inthe State of Pennsylvania, have made certain new and usefullinprovements in Regulators for Electric Lights; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical elevation, and Fig. 2 adetail plan.

My invention has for its object to provide means for automaticallyfeeding the carbons or electrodes of electric lights toward each otheras they consume or waste away, so as to maintain as nearly as ispossible a continuous permanent voltaic are.

My improvements consistin the peculiar construction and combination ofparts hereinafter specified, having reference principally to thecombination, with two electro-magnets in the path of the light-circuit,or in a shunt thereof, of two shoes or clamps for holding the uppercarbon, said magnets being sustained upon a yoke spring and arrangedwith their unlike poles facing one another, and said shoes beingsupported upon the opposing faces or ends of said magnets and adapted toclamp the upper carbon between them, while allowing said carbon to dropor feed and be lifted, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

My improvements still further consist in certain details of constructionand combination hereinafter more fully set forth.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, A indicates the frame of anelectric lamp, and B and O carbons or electrodes sustained therein, endto end, the lower carbon, B, being stationary, while the upper one ismovable, as hereinafter set forth.

E represents a bow or yoke spring, fastened at or about its middle byscrews 6 e to the frame A, allowing its ends 6 e to depend, as shown;or, if desired,two springs (which would be represented by cutting thespring E in twain at its middle) may be substituted for the singlespring E. Upon either end 6 e of the spring E are sustained electromagnets F G,

wound in like directions, so as to have their dissimilar poles opposed,in order that when the electric current passes into them they will beattracted toward each other. Said spring E is so bent that its tendencyis for its ends to spring apart, thus separating the magnets when nocurrent passes through the latter.

H and I represent shoes, jointed at h and i to stems h t", hinged at h ito the magnets F G, respectively. Said shoes, when the magnets areattracted toward each other by the passage of the electric current,tightly clamp the carbon electrode 0 between them and hold it in a fixedposition, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1. When, by reason of thefailure of the arc, the current does not circulate, the magnets, ceasingto attract, are drawn apart by the spring, thus causing the shoes torelax their hold on the carbon in their grasp, whereupon the latterdrops until it touches the lower carbon, B. This re-establishes thecircuit, causing the magnets to be attracted toward each other and theshoes to clamp upon the carbon C. The magnets, as they move toward eachother,change the inclination of the stems h 1', thus giving a risingmovement to the shoes, whereby the latter lift-the carbon 0, drawing itaway sufficiently from the lower carbon, B, to produce the voltaic arc.The cores of the magnets are shown prolonged sufficiently to come incontact when attracted, a semicircular groove being made in each,forming an opening,k, through which the carbon 0 passes, and in which itmay be held, if desired, said cores thereby acting as an auxiliaryclamp.

L L are arms, provided with set-screws Z Z, which form stops forlimiting the movement of the branches of the spring E. By adjustingthese screws the extent of lift of the shoes H I may be regulated, as itis obvious that the farther out the arms of the spring E are permittedto expand the lower down will the shoes take hold of the carbon, and thefarther will they lift the carbon when the magnets are attracted towardeach other.

The course of the current may be as shown by arrows in the drawings.Thus it may enter at binding post ac, thence pass through electrodes,thence to magnets G F, and finally to binding-post y.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is- 1. In an electric light regulator, thecombination, with the electrode 0, a spring, E, having elcctro-magnets FG sustained upon either end thereof, with their dissimilar polesopposed, said springtendingnormally to separate said magnets, the latterbeing designed and operating to be attracted toward each other when anelectric current passes through them, substantially as shown anddescribed.

2. The combination, with electromagnets F G, sustained upon either endof a spring, E, of shoes H I, having stems h i, andsecnred to saidmagnets, substantially as shown and described.

CHAS. E. BALL. Witnesses:

S. J. VAN STAVOREN, CHAS. F. VAN HORN.

